April 25, 2020

COVID-19: SF sings its heart out with Tony Bennett

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Today at noon, Saturday, April 25, the sound of I Left My Heart in San Francisco, made famous by Tony Bennett, filled the streets of San Francisco for the first live-from-everyplace pandemic feel-good "sing-along", with masked singers, the bells of Grace Cathedral (link below), the San Francisco Symphony, et. all.        




The sing-along was the idea of San Francisco Chief of Protocol Charlotte Shultz and Bennett who  first sang the tune in 1961 in the Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel, Even the 8-foot bronze statue  of Bennett by Bruce Wolf outside the Hotel was wearing a mask.      




The statue was dedicated to Bennett on August 19, 2016, on Nob Hill in San Francisco, with Mayor Ed Lee declaring Aug. 19 to be Tony Bennett Day.          





Although Heart in SF is a lovely tune, I have always preferred the more gutsy, San Francisco from the 1936 film by the same name sung by Jeanette MacDonald. I remember after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake the song that was sung was San Francisco and the emotion stirred by the song was amazing. The song looks to the future and the promise of good things to come.            






Viewfinder link:       
         
Tony Bennett        
        
Net links:       
         
YouTube links:       
         
San Francisco Opera ~ I Left My Heart In San Francisco           
Jeanette MacDonald ~ San Francisco        
     
         
     
       
        
Styrous® ~ Saturday, April 25, 2020          


         
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